Electric dry battery



Feb. 1, 192's.

K. STAMM ELECTRIC DRY BATTERY Filed Feb. 9, 1925 Pa nted Feb. 7, 1928. I I I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

KARL STAMM, OF BERLIN-DAHLEM, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO MANNESmANN-IiICHT- A.-G., OF BERLIN, GERMANY.

ELECTRIC DRY BATTERY.

I Application filed February 9, 1925, Serial No. 8,040, and in Germany March 24, 1924/ This invention relates to a dry batterycr it cannot be directly reached from outside, cell, in which the electrolyte is stored in a while, on the battery being taken into use, separate closed vessel of breakable material, it must be driven in by means of a separate such as glass, within the cell, which vessel. auxiliary member, until it destroys'the sepis broken by a shock or blow, when the cell ara-te vessel. This has the advantage, that m is to be made ready for use. The electrolyte the breaking member which is located in the is then distributed throughout the cell by container may be so placed and in some shaking the latter. cases guided that there will be no leakage According to the present invention a hole or. outflow of the electrolytein any of its i is bored into the electrode or absorbent mapositions. This member is therefore a brakterial, which is fixed in the container so as mg member and a sealing member. to be immovable, and the separate vessel for Various constructional examples are the electrolyte. is destroyed by a member shown in the accompanying drawing, in which is preferably insulated or consists of which non-conducting material and is driven into Fig. 1 is a vertical section through one the hole. This member may for instance be preferred form of the invention. an enamelled and consequently insulated Fig. 2 is a striking member for the same iron wire, which provides the further adand 4 vantage that it is practically impossible for Fig. 3 is a plan view of'a composite bata short circuit to take place and the member tcry.

to be broken, when the battery -is put into In Fig. 1, a is a container of a dry batuse. 7 tery, made for instance of an active mate- Various proposals have been made for rial, such as zinc. In it is firmly fixed the destroying the separate -vessel within the absorbent member 12, consisting of an abbattery, for instance it has been suggested sorbent substance, for instance cotton wool, so

to move the carbon electrode from the outand a depolarizing layer. side or a blow or pressure has to be given The lower space 0 serves for the recepat apredetermined point. of the container tion of a separate vessel h of glass or some also from the outside. In each case a memother breakable material for the electrolyte, 31) ber or a part of the container, which is The separate vessel may be spherical or. may '85 easily accessible from the outside, s to be be adaptedmor-e or less to the shape of the subjected directly to a mechanical action. space 0. This vessel may either be made It is however obvious'that the projecting uniformly of breakable, insulating material carbon electrode, the part of the container or may have one particularly readily broken or the like may be forced in during transspot, which is opposite the member serving n port or through clumsy or inexperienced for the opening or destruction'ot the vessel. treatment and the separate vessel thereby Such a sensitive spot may be formed by'thc destroyed, even when the battery is not inprovision of a parailin stopper or the like. tended to be taken into use. The various In this casethe remainder of she separate my suggestions, which for instance include the vessel may .consist of non-brea able mateprovision of a. screw or the like in-.tliebot-- rial, in which case itwill sutlice if its intom of the container, have the further disternal surface is made resistant to the chem: advantage that, when the vessel is driven in ical action of the electrolyte. and broken, it has been found impossible, For the introduction of the striking mem- 45 as a result of many.experiments,-to prevent her a bore a: is provided in the carbon elec- 1m) the electrolyte escaping at the place where .trode (I, through which a pin 29 can be the screw enters and the electrolyte is found plunged. to' crystallize at this point ina great many In the bore a; of the electrode d is proof the cases referred to. Vided a striking. member 8, preferably of 50 4 According to one constructional form of non-conducting material. It is for instance 105 y the invention the striking or pressure exertmounted in the bore 00 by means of a pitch ing member is inserted .in the battery in or ozokerite mixture or the like, which has such a position that it will at, first, that is a high melting point, so that it does not p'ro. as long as the battery is not taken into use, ject beyond the cover 1' of the container, but

5 lie within the battery in a position, in which preferably lies at a suitable depth within the bore as, so that it cannot be displaced by any accidental external mechanical influ-' ences. The object of the pitch or. ozokerite surrounding of the striking member is" to provide a fluid seal for the member, with- .out interfering with itsmobility.

At thecover end the container is closed in any suitable manner, for instance by means of,a seal e madefof an electrical non-con- "ductlngcompound. A cover r, for instance of cardboard, is preferably placed above the cell.. w

Usually three such separate cells are combined to form a battery of suitable, voltage,

*the arrangement being': such that the carbon electrode of the first cell is connected to the zinc electrode of the next cell, so that between the zinc electrode of the firstcell and the carbon electrode of the third cell there will be the total voltage of the three cells connected inseries. The three zinc containers, which are open at the top, are then' together inserted in a cardboard casing g, as shown in plan in Fig. 3, the separate containers being electrically separated by a packing a of fibrous material, for instance cardboard, and held firmly in position in the'easing by sawdust or the like. The electri'c'connections 'u, 'v are thereuponestablished and finally the spring contacts 70 are electrically connected to the container of the first cell and the carbon electrode of the The covermag' last cell. Sealingmaterial is thereupon applied at the top in a layer of suitable thicknessso that all three cells are completely insulated from the outside. Over this sealing material a cardboard cover may finally be placed, which may be connected to the casing'g, or simply stlick on. to the sealing ma- 4n r be made any suitable shape. but is provide in any case, with inward bulges, through which the separate striking member p, whichis'supplied with each bat-- 'tery and may for instance have the form eta pm as shown in Fig.- 2, 1s pierced, when the battery has to be-put'in use. Thepin will then penetrateiin the bore a and will 7 strike the member a which, when further pressure is' exerted-on the pm, is forced down and finally breaks the vessel It; A cracking sound indicates clearly that the vessel has been broken. The bore a: is not open, but is still closed by the striking member 8, whieh was sealed in with pitch. The pin is then withdrawn and the. two other cells pierced with it, after which the battery may be shaken and will be found immediately to have the required voltage. 1

The member for driving in the striking member 8 should not be loose, but may, if desired, be fixed to a cell holder. This member, which penetrates from the outside, does not efi'ect the destruction of the separate vessel directly, but indirectly, and that the intermediate member at the same time forms a fluid seal.

What I- claim is: 1. In a dry cell, a fixed electrode having a bore, a separate vessel having a part of its wall of easily breakable material positioned underneath said electrode and containing the electrolyte, a member capable of being driven in said bore of said electrode to break said separate vessel, and sealing means for said bore of said electrode.

2. In a dry cell, a fixed electrode having a bore, a separate vessel of -ea'sil breakable material positioned underneath t e electrode and containing the electrolyte, a member capable of being driven in said bore of said electrode to break said separate vessel, and said member after being driven in acting to .seal'said bore.

a 3. In a dry cell, a fixed electrode havin a bore, a separate vessel of easily breakable material positioned underneath the said electrode and containing the electrolyte, an insulating member capab e of bein driven in said bore of said electrode to break said separate vessel, and sealing means for the bore of said electrode.

derneath said electrode within the cell containing the electrolyte and having a breakable wall, separate means for drivin in'said member and destroyingsaid chamber, and sealing means for said member in said hollow electrode. KARL STAMM. 

